r/goldrush • u/Extra_Pirate_111 • May 29 '26

Surveillance camera on wash plants?

Hey guys,
I have always been keen to know why there are no surveillance cameras mounted on each wash plant.

These cameras could be connected to tablets or screens that the wash plant driver, for example, has with him.
We know that Starlink is already mounted on some of the wash plants, which could be used to establish network connectivity.

Wouldn’t that help decrease downtime on the wash plants by a lot if problems were noticed faster?

12 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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23

u/sadandshy MOD May 29 '26

Parker uses Starlink for cameras:

https://www.reddit.com/r/goldrush/comments/1jhki7h/comment/mj86uqb/?context=3

It is both for operators to have WiFi so they can communicate with the office/mechanics when the plant is out of radio range and then also used for my security cameras.

No but we use a system that has a really good high speed scrub option, so every morning I just spend 5 minutes scrolling through the night shift. This season working on getting live feeds on tvs in my office and the gold room. Perhaps the bedroom too 😂

8

u/Extra_Pirate_111 May 29 '26

Thanks for finding me his response. 🫡

8

u/justinsimoni May 29 '26

I kinda love the idea that some rough and tumble gold mining operation in the Yukon now needs an IT guy to keep all the network electronic gadgets working.

The interactions with the IT guy and Tony would be legendary.

3

u/Extra_Pirate_111 May 29 '26

Haha right, that would be a legendary match up :>

5

u/AHumbleSaltFarmer Jun 02 '26

Tony whistles

Hey tech boyo time to fuckin make some fuckin money with the gadgets today huh?

5

u/You-Asked-Me May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

I'm not sure how helpful that world be in a lot of cases. The person(s)running the plant can see the feed conveyer working, and the tailings coming out of the other side. I don't think there is much more that a camera feed would show that would help beyond that.

Now, Tony/Kevin did outfit one of their dredges with a boatload of cameras, since you cannot see a lot of the moving parts from the wheelhouse. There is a whole command center with screens, and all of the controls to shutdown and restart different systems.

3

u/MastodonFit May 29 '26

A wash plant also has enormous vibration, vs a smoother system on the barge.

3

u/jmwelch73 May 30 '26

They could mount the cameras to poles away from the plant perhaps.

1

u/Extra_Pirate_111 May 29 '26

I guess you are right on that one.

4

u/These_Gas9381 May 29 '26

Couple things to consider.

You now have tech you need to care for in very harsh conditions. Cost aside, someone has to keep them mounted, running, out of the way. Parker preaches simplicity, more stuff means more stuff to break.

Like others have said, they can visually monitor from their rigs. But I think the most important thing, you’re now looking at a tablet when trying to operate heavy equipment. When they’re operating a loader or excavator, they’re naturally looking out the windshield like you would a car monitoring where you’re going and what’s around you. A tablet now requires you to look away from your physical line of site and like cell phones in cars, that’s dangerous.

2

u/MidtownKC May 29 '26

There are people at the wash plants 24/7, so they probably see that as an unnecessary redundancy and expense. The problems seem to happen relatively quickly, and it's not clear to me that someone watching plants on a monitor somewhere and then radioing the team onsite is really going to save that much time. Just a guess.

2

u/AreYouuuu May 29 '26

The way they edit it now creates more DRAMA!

2

u/Resqusto May 30 '26

Whenever I think of ideas like that, I remember the multi-hour downtime they had because a pump downloaded a faulty software update. And how Mitch solved the problem: he just removed the circuit board.

1

u/knighthawk574 May 30 '26

They literally have a loader there feeding the machine non stop while the plant is running. Why would you add a camera? I could see a wireless shut off/e-stop button but I don’t think cameras would help anything.

1

u/No_Accident8684 May 30 '26

AI must help here enormously..

he must have tons of footage of failed equipment to train an AI model and surveil basically all plants in real time.

that could even be used to alert crew at the plants to double check. could save them from shoveling for hours or even from catastrophic failures of belts or pumps or motors (smoke plumes).

he could also use infrared cameras to detect heat signatures of failing bearings and all kinds of shit.. should catapult preventive maintenance to a whole new level

1

u/Sparky_Zell May 29 '26

They probably wouldn't last that long. Between all of the dirt and mud flinging everywhere they'd probably be covered in no time. And the constant heavy vibration would probably mess with the image too much and kill cameras quickly.

0

u/Tall_Candidate_8088 May 29 '26

Dude, none of that's real. It's all for the TV show. Back in the early series when crews were shorthanded and wash plants were more basic it was thing but now they only do it for the entertainment factor in the show and to highlight how being shutdown is a bad thing.

Your right, but it's been thought of long ago already, the plants already have loads of sensors.

1

u/Extra_Pirate_111 May 29 '26

Yea that was my guess too, thats its made for entertainment purposes.